Show by what stages Medea’s plans for revenge unfold - Assignment Example

From the beginning of the play, we can see altering plans that Medea has for revenge, from the very beginning her plans are ever changing and it seems she has many ways of putting her feelings of hatred for Jason across. Whilst reading the play, we do not know whether or not they are meaningless, we do not know as to whether she wishes to just cast a curse on them or if she wants to have the joy of killing Jason, his wife and Creon. Her very first objectives are not exactly made from her but are deciphered from her nurse who makes an assumption after hearing her from her room.

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Once the nurse had made this assumption, it will make us see what kind of person Medea is, due to the fact that the nurse knows her best, and would know what she would get up to. However baring this in mind we soon realise that the nurse is actually wrong because when we first see Medea she is nothing like the nurse had implied. She comes on as someone who isn’t really greatly affected by her crisis, and is happy to carry on with things normally. But again there is another twist in the play because we hear her say “Death take you, with your father.

And perish his whole house! ” this however at the moment seems to be an empty threat rather than a meaningful threat. After this we are brought upon a speech made by Medea in order to win the sympathy vote of the chorus. She does this by explaining her sorrowful past life and her depressing future. Soon after this Creon enters the play and without any hesitation at all, he comes in and says that he will send her and her sons into exile before she can cause any damage to Creon or his daughter Glauce.

Medea is desperate to stay in Corinth for a little while longer and tries her utmost into making Creon change his mind, and doesn’t succeed, until she finally persuades him with talk of children, and that he should let her stay in Corinth for a while as he would understand what it is like being a parent. “Show some pity, you are a father to. ” This message hits Creon and makes him give in, he allows her to have 1 extra day for staying in Corinth, and if she is there for a day extra she will be killed.

With this extra day in hand Medea now has time to execute her methods of revenge for Jason. Today 3 of my enemies I shall strike dead Father and Daughter; and my husband. ” Following this she comes up with suitable methods for her to kill her 3 enemies, “should I set fire to the house, and burn the bridal chamber? Or creep up to their bed and drive a sharp knife through their guts? ” she decides that the best method would be one where she shouldn’t have to enter the house so that she can avoid being caught and let “the last laugh go to my enemies. ” However these threats that she makes are still suggestions and possibilities but she does not yet specify if she will carry them out or not.

It is after this that we first meet Jason, who upon first look he seems to be rather arrogant and due to his actions we would feel sorry for Medea and all she has been through. Once Jason leaves her she becomes full of anger and becomes very aggressive towards hi, and she gives her word that she will wreck his marriage “that this your marriage day, will end with marriage lost, loathing and horror left. ” After this scene we meet Aegeus who we find out I on his way to Delphi to find a cure for infertility.

They end up chatting about Medea’s problems, and Medea realises once Aegeus explains his fate of him not being able to have any children how important boys are to a man, and with this in mind she plans her revenge! She then begs him to help her while she is in Athens, and he says yes only if she will has the power to cure his infertility, and that she also has to make her own way to Athens. Bearing this in mind she can now take out her revenge on Jason now that she has a place of refuge. Now she can start to think of her method in taking revenge now that she has a place of refuge.

Her final plans involve her (in order) sweet talk Jason into letting their sons stay with him in Corinth, to give her children a gold dress to give to Glauce as a present which has poison around it, to then kill her sons, as she found out how precious they are to Jason and she feels this would be the deepest blow for Jason, and she also decided that she wont kill Jason but leave him to suffer with all the carnage that she has left for him. The chorus hate the idea of her having to kill her sons and beg her to change her mind but she won’t change it.